FEB 11 2008 — Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik was listed in stable condition Monday at a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital after surgery that repaired a severed carotid artery. Zednik was cut on the right side of his neck by the skate of Florida’s Olli Jokinen during a fall after he was hit by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur. A significant amount of blood immediately spurted from the 11/2-inch wound, but Zednik was able to skate to the Florida bench where medical staff and trainers applied pressure to the wound and rushed him to the locker room, and on to the hospital. Zednik did collapse in the alley way on the way to the locker room.

In surgery doctors discovered that the skate blade did not hit any other arteries or veins, including the jugular vein, or cause any major nerve damage. The artery was not entirely severed, which decreased the time it took for the carotid to be clamped as it was reattached, and decreased the chances of brain damage from lack of blood supply to the brain.

Video analysis of the skate injury that caused a carotid artery laceration of Richard Zednik.